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I am a PS3 owner and someday hope to be a PS4 owner, yet I am not at all dissatisfied with my choice to delay purchase, solely based on the current PS4 library. When I transitioned from a Playstation 1 to a Playstation 2, I was pleasantly surprised that I could for the most part rid myself of my PS1...

Playing on hallowed ground.

Strategy gamers have been blessed over the past few years with some of the best
PC games to date. From Command
& Conquer to StarCraft, from Age
of Empires to Homeworld, strategy buffs have seen
some really cool stuff over the past few years. And it looks like they won again.

Following in the footsteps of Bungie's vaunted Myth
series comes the 3D strategy game Ground Control. While it doesn't shatter
expectations, this is a well-made game that just about every strategy fan should
check out.

The premise is generic: there's a planet, there are good guys, there are bad
guys, there's war, there's peace, there's war again, and there's peace again.
Oh, and now there's war. Your job is to kill the other guy using your guys.
Any questions? (Don't answer that.)

Ground Control is a pure tactical strategy game. You don't deal with
any resource management - no mining for gold, scavenging for metal, or harvesting
tiberium. You don't construct units or buildings. This is a style of gameplay
rarely seen, but equally fun. It's pretty much just the forces you start with
versus the world.

And what a beautiful world it is! Developed by Massive Entertainment, Ground
Control features one of the best engines yet created for a strategy game.
The world is rendered in full 3D with the usual share of nifty graphical treats
- lensflares, bumpmapping, specular lighting - all the bells and whistles you'd
expect.

The real treat is the camera, which allows full rotation and can zoom in and
out to outrageous levels. Command your units from on high, peering down so that
your infantrymen are mere specks. Or, if you'd prefer, zoom down to ground level
and watch shell casings fly off each individual infantryman's gun. The spectacular
detail level includes excellent textures and real moving parts - just watch
your tank's cannon recoil after shooting off a round.

This has gameplay ramifications as well. Since the game is fully 3D, line of sight becomes a definite issue. Since high ground equals better performance, you'll have to navigate units up and down hills. If you're not sure whether or not you have the enemy in your LOS, just zoom down and put yourself in your unit's shoes. How cool.

The units
themselves are sci-fi military; infantry, assault (tanks), and air units are
represented in full polygonal glory. You don't actually control individuals
- you control squads. With a terrific user interface, moving squads around and
having them face the right way in the right formation is simple and intuitive.

As I mentioned, this isn't a resource management game. Before each level,
you load up and configure squads of units into dropships, which are then deployed
at the beginning of the level. Squads carry over from battle to battle in the
single player game, gaining experience and honors along the way. This turns
the game into something of a perfectionists dream - you'll end up doing your
best to save certain units, unlike resource management games where sheer force
of numbers usually decides the winner.

Spanning 30 missions, the single player game will keep you occupied for quite
a while. Once past that, you can jump into multiplayer by either the standard
game or the 'drop-in' game, a sort of deathmatch. This is a pretty cool idea
that brings some quick fix, arcade flair to the game.

If there is one problem with Ground Control, it's the unit AI. Since
you're controlling squads rather than individuals, you'll often find groups
of units crisscrossing to reach certain locations. Friendly fire is a serious
problem, and, while realistic, is a pain in the ass. Watching a group of infantrymen
run directly through heavy tankfire to reach a point is silly, and setting up
waypoints while you're getting pounded by gunfire is hardly conducive to surviving.

I also have a gripe with the air units. They certainly look cool, but they're hard to control and usually just end up getting shot down by enemy fire. Aside from that, the unit balancing is pretty good.

Despite these minor annoyances, Ground Control is a blast. From its
amazing level of detail to its fantastic game engine, this is one that fans
of strategy should not miss.